THINGS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING MEADOWBROOK CARE HOME...

First of all, let me thank those faithful Crivites who've shown support and remained loyal to Crivens during the recent accounts of my encounters with Meadowbrook Care Home, part of Enhance Healthcare, whose sole interest is clearly only in enhancing their own bank account.  I appreciate that the subject is not normally one you'd expect to see on a blog devoted to comics, collectables, and nostalgia, but considering the massive amount of visits Crivens receives on a monthly basis (many hundreds of thousands, in fact), it would be silly of me not to take advantage of its reach all around the world. 

Meadowbrook and some of its staff have shown a ready willingness to lie and distort in their attempts to intimidate and deter me from my stated intention to reveal to the media their many deficiencies, and they blindly support any staff I've formally complained about in their tit for tat revenge tactics aimed at me.  Even, oddly, when some of my complaints were partially upheld by them, rendering their accustaions of 'slander' curiously contradictory, if not utterly ludicrous.

When it comes to some of the staff, management have 'got their backs', as they simply can't risk admitting they're prepared to employ liars, thieves, idlers, and incompetents.  Not all of them, obviously, but far too many than there should be.  However, they certainly have no compunctions about fighting dirty when it comes to attempting to silence criticism of their failure to fulfil their responsibilities and honour their contractual commitments.  It's strange that I only received the following email when I disclosed my intention to publicly expose them in the media.

"Over recent weeks, staff have reported repeated instances of intimidating behaviour, inappropriate physical conduct, and inappropriate comments directed against them.  These incidents have caused genuine distress to those involved and have, in specific instances, been referred to Police Scotland given the nature and severity of the behaviours described."

The timing of this shocking email is highly suspect, as I'd never previously been informed of any accusations of 'repeated instances of intimidating behaviour, inappropriate physical conduct, and inappropriate comments', nor had I received any visits from the police in regard to them, being told when I enquired that there was no record of any such complaints against me.  'Inappropriate physical conduct'?  The mind boggles, as such phraseology conjures up images of a serial groper, and I've never even come close to breathing on any of the staff, never mind touching them.  Yes, fighting dirty indeed!  Same goes for each of their 'allegations'. 

As you know, after what seemed like an uphill and futile struggle lasting years, I triumphed (with unstinting aid from a conscientious Social Worker) in my mission to have my mother accepted by another Home with a higher rating and better reputation, so at least that part of the fight is over.  Because of an arbitrary and unjustified ban imposed by her previous accommodation, I was unable to visit my 104-year-old mother, afflicted with Alzheimer's and cancer, for nearly two months, and in that time she has noticeably deteriorated, due (in my firm conviction) to a lacklustre standard of 'care', in which her fingernails haven't been cut for several weeks, giving her hands a witch's claw-type appearance.

Then there were large bruises on her legs, which Meadowbrook management tried to explain away with unconvincing suggestions as to their possible cause, which was a particular trait of the manageress, who always looked for some other reason (or excuse) which would absolve them of any culpability for anything that might show them in a bad light, rather than accept the more likely and most obvious explanation that more accurately reflected reality - as opposed to mere wishful thinking on her part. 

I've left three negative reviews on their website over the years, the most recent being the one you can read below.

Review from Gordon R (Son of Resident) published on 10 September 2026

The place, in my four-and-a-half years of experience, is a disgrace.  Because I've complained about various aspects over the years and made formal complaints about staff (one once referred to me as a p***k), some have now decided to get their own back by making false and malicious complaints against me.

Also, because I threatened to go public with my dozens of photos of a dirty floor in my mother's room over a period of time and excrement on her toilet seat, which was still there three days later, I have been banned on some pretext as a 'punishment'.  I have now stopped paying the fees as I'm hoping they will 'evict' my mother and I can place her somewhere that really knows how to treat a 104-year-old woman with Alzheimer's and cancer.

To those who have left positive reviews, I'd say you need to look behind the curtain.

Below is their response, interspersed with comments by myself.

Reply from Michelle Hampson, Home Manager at Meadowbrook

Thank you for your feedback.  We're sorry you feel this way, and our door remains open for further discussion.  (I was barred from the premises and Meadowbrook refused to deal with me directly via email.  This is an open door?)

Out of respect for the privacy of our residents and their families, we can't discuss any individual's care or any complaint in a public forum.  (Of course not, as they don't want to air their dirty laundry.)  What we can say is that every concern raised with us, whether about care, cleanliness or staff conduct, is investigated thoroughly in line with our policies and our regulatory obligations to the Care Inspectorate.  (They might go through the process of investigating so they can claim they're observing their obligations, but it never results in permanent improvements or any effective resolution of complaints.  That's why I was regularly complaining about the same things.)  Decisions about how we manage our services are never taken lightly, are always taken in the best interests of the people we support and our obligations to protect team members, and are never a response to someone raising a concern.  (The best interests of the people they support?  In what way is it in the best interests of a 104-year-old-mother to be denied visits from her son?)  Our ethos is that all feedback is a chance to learn and improve.  (If that were the case, why do they never seem to learn or improve, repeating the same inefficiencies time-after-time?  You can take their inaccurate assertions with a pinch of salt.)

We're proud of the standard our team maintains (when, in fact, they should be embarrassed, if not ashamed, as my many dozens of photographs testify), and of the home's Good grade from the Care Inspectorate at its most recent inspection.  (I'd hardly say 3.6 is good.)  Visitors are always welcome to meet the team and see the care we provide for themselves.  (When a carefully arranged presentation will be put on for their benefit.)

Anyway, thankfully, my mother is now free from their grasp, and will hopefully enjoy a more attentive and effective standard of 'care' than Meadowbrook was capable of providing.  (Or even willing to, in fact.)  If you have or have ever had a relative taken into care, feel free to comment, even if your experience isn't in accord with my own.  And thanks for reading.  I may add to this post as other things occur to me.

******

And if you're new to this whole sorry saga, the following links (if you're interested) will give you all the details.  Link 5 has some photographs you might like to look at in regard to Meadowbrook's woeful standard of cleanliness.  They say the rooms are cleaned every day, yet I have time-and-date-stamped photos on my camera's SD memory card which prove they're not.

Link 1      Link 2      Link 3      Link 4      Link 5      Link 6      Link 7      Link 8

Link 9      Link 10